Romans 8:28 (Our Purpose)

   And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.          
                                Romans 8:28

   I have always loved this well known verse mainly because of the first part. If I had been asked to give a CC Translation yesterday I would have said, "God works all things for my good (and the good of other JC followers)." But, reading over it again today I've decided that that translation over looks the most important part, "who have been called according to His purpose."

   As I read I noticed that 'those who love Him' and 'who have been called according to His purpose' are used interchangeably. They are used as the same thing! When we confess our love for God with our mouths and in our hearts, He wastes no time sharing with us what He set aside for us to do, what He reserved for us as our difference making opportunity, as our significance. Nearly everyone on earth would jump at the opportunity to play a major, memorable role in life, unfortunately many people also miss the point of God's purpose for us. God could change the world on His own (and do it right the first time!:)) but He choose to set aside something for each of us to do so that we could all be world changers!

   Some people hold the philosophy that no one can do anything that will cause them to be remembered by people hundreds and thousands of years, so what?! Why would you rather be loved by people thousands of years after you're dead then by people when you're alive? Someone once said(when i googled who said it I got tons of different names so I'm not sure who!), "To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world." God has given us the ability to be the world for someone! How amazing is that?!

   So when we read Romans 8:28 we must keep in mind that God works everything for the good of our purpose, to help us with our role in changing the world. While "everything" may hurt us terribly, the beauty of fulfilling our purpose will far out way "everything." Therefore, God works "everything" together to help us fulfill our purpose, which will produce more good for us then we could ever dream of!